Where the Growth Is
The Outsell team is wrapping up our annual sizing season. To get an overview of the total industry and the 100+ segments we cover, look no further than the Outsell Segment Explorer. You can also see market share for the leading companies in key segments, like B2B Media & Business Information. We are publishing annual analysis about each segment on the heels of the data being published in our platform last month.
The industry, which was flat in 2020 after a debacle of a year, is seeing solid growth in a variety of sectors and overall growth in 2021 of 10%. We are forecasting slower growth in 2022 and ahead into 2023, and some of that depends on what happens to the overall economy, which we know influences our industry in spades.
Market research and business information are up from the trough of 2020, when exhibitions and conferences took a major beating due to the pandemic. Events are taking longer to come back, and there is pressure on travel budgets in two ways: Customers had already cut travel back to a percentage of 2019 levels, and those smaller budgets are not going as far as fast now due to higher fuel and travel prices. One client in the travel industry said corporate travel would be the last to return, and that is showing up in event performance, too.
ESG and risk continue to be hotter sectors as well as company information, which fuels martech and marketing spending as well as KYC and KYS solutions and others that have company data at their core. Some parts of legal are booming, while others are still in the low single digits. Pharma info is doing well, while scholarly communications continues along at lower single digits. Corporate training grew 13%, and HR solutions is also growing nicely, while the market for teaching and learning solutions is also up over 10%.
Overall, the industry is healthy: during uncertain times, good information is gold.
We continue to see more companies moving up their planning processes as valuations shift in the face of changing public markets and access to cheap capital. Alongside inflation and general economic uncertainty — read, a bear market and the “r-word” — we see clients engaging in scenario planning and looking ahead to 2023 this summer instead of waiting for the normal planning season and cycles. What used to be done in September or October and finalized in November or December is now getting a closer look in June, July, and August. Summertime just got a whole lot more interesting…
We’ve got the industry insight you’re looking for: the “what,” “so what,” and “what to do.” Give us a call.